APRIL 26th 2017
PRESS RELEASE | APRIL 26TH 2017 / | 1
BPIFRANCE AND EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD INVESTMENT PARTNERS JOINTLY INVEST IN PLATINIUM GROUP ALONGSIDE ITS MANAGEMENT TEAM IN ORDER TO PURSUE A NEW CHAPTER OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Bpifrance and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners through WINCH Capital 3 fund are proud to announce that they are taking a majority stake in Platinium Group ("PG").
PG is a software company providing ‘Software as a Service (SaaS) ticketing solutions to organisers of major sporting events across the world. The group offers its clients innovative and flexible ticketing technology as well as value-added services in order to maximise ticket revenue across all sales channels. PG has enjoyed strong growth in recent years and has firmly established a position as one of the leading players in its market segment. The group notably supplies software solutions to organisers of the highest tier of motorsport (Formula 1, MotoGP and MXGP) as well as multiple ATP and WTA tennis tournaments worldwide. In parallel, PG has developed a ticket distribution and e-commerce business for sporting events, notably via its website, Gootickets.com. The group provides its services to a truly international client base spread across more than 35 countries whilst generating revenue of nearly €100m per year thanks to its dedicated team of 50+ employees.
Having invested heavily in recent years in the development of its technology built on long-term contracts with blue-chip sporting clients such as Formula One Management, the Grands Prix of Abu Dhabi and Monza, the Shanghai Rolex Masters, plus the Madrid Open to name but a few, PG is now well positioned to accelerate its international development.
With the support of their new shareholders and banking partners (CEPAC and LCL), Steve Sasportas (founder and CEO) and Bruno Rodrigues (COO) are skillfully driving the business to consolidate PG’s position within the motorsports industry whilst simultaneously promoting its solutions to organisers of other sports, entertainment and cultural related events. The company is therefore actively looking to strengthen its pipeline in order to continue its international development and to extend its range of products and services. To that end, PG is set to rapidly expand its IT and business development teams whilst opening a new office in Asia to support business generation with its Asian and Australian customers; the company is also considering build-up opportunities to accelerate its development.
To lead this ambitious development plan and following a competitive process organised by Transaction R, Bpifrance, and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners through WINCH Capital 3 fund were selected to buy out private investors which had historically supported and financed the group's development. The two funds are now majority shareholders alongside the current management team who has kept a significant stake in the company.
"We are delighted that two major and highly experienced investors are investing in our group, to support our strong growth in the sporting world and expansion into new segments (notably entertainment) via organic and external international growth. We would also like to thank our historic shareholders, for whom the journey now ends with record group performance in 2016", said Steve Sasportas and Bruno Rodrigues.
"The management convinced us of the pertinence of PG's positioning in the extensive and rapidly expanding market of online ticketing for sports events. With a strong international presence, prestigious clients and a proven and innovative solution, the group has what it takes to gain new events and to make acquisitions, which will enable it to diversify its range and penetrate new markets", commented Romain Gauvrit and Caroline Lebel, Investment Director and Investment Manager at Bpifrance.
"We are delighted to have been selected by the management to take part in the structuring of the group and to support their development strategy combining strong organic growth, international development and acquisitions", explained Pierre-Yves Poirier and Thomas Duteil, Partner and Investment Director at Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners.
Participants:
Bpifrance Investissement and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners :
Bpifrance Investissement : Romain Gauvrit (Directeur d’Investissement), Caroline Lebel (Chargée d'Investissement Senior), Herve Coindreau (Responsable Investissements Directs – direction juridique), Nicolas Manardo (Directeur Mid&Large Cap)
EdRIP: Pierre-Yves Poirier (Directeur Associé), Thomas Duteil (Directeur de Participations), Sylvain Charignon (Directeur Associé)
Legal Council and Due Diligence : Gordon S.Blair (David de Pariente, Alexis Madier, Stéphanie Roquefort, Elizaveta Billiet, Geoffroy Michaux)
Financial Due Diligence: PwC (Stéphane Salustro, Matthieu Fournier)
Strategic Due Diligence : LEK (Serge Hovsepian, Simon Hardi)
Technical Due Diligences: Octo Technology (Jean-Damien Blanc, Mathieu Poignant)
Marketing Due Diligences : Digital Value (Arnaud de Baynast, Paul-Henri Magnien, Sophie-Laetitia Roux)
ESG Due Diligence: PwC (Emilie Bobin, Aurélie Verronneau)
Banking partners :
Banks: CEPAC (Diane Richel, Johannes Lock, Amaury Schoenauer), LCL (Bertrand Carassus, Lambert Doussot, Laurent François)
Legal Council: VOLT (Alexandre Tron, Anaïs Borel)
Platinium Group’s shareholders:
Financial Advice: Transaction R (Anthony Benichou, Augustin Delouvrier, Olivia Harel)
Legal Council: Almain (Edgard Nguyen) et PCM (Olivier Marquet)
Press contacts:Bpifrance
Nathalie Police
Tél.: +33 1 41 79 95 26
/ Edmond de Rothschild
Publicis Consultants
Florence Bastien
+ 33 (01) 44 82 46 16
Stéphanie Tabouis
Tel.: +33 1 44 82 46 35
/ Edmond de Rothschild (France)
Laetitia Guillot-Tantay
Tél.: + 33 1 40 17 89 26
About Bpifrance
Equity investment are operated by Bpifrance Investissement. Bpifrance, a subsidiary of the French state and the Caisse des Dépôts and the entrepreneurs’ trusted partner, finances businesses from the seed phase to IPO, through loans, guarantees and equity investments. Bpifrance also provides operational services and strong support for innovation, export, and external growth in parnertship with Business France. Bpifrance offers to businesses a large range of financing opportunities at each key step of their development, including offers adapted to regional specificities. With its 47 regional offices (90% of decisions are made locally) Bpifrance represents a strategic tool for economic competitiveness dedicated to entrepreneurs. Bpifrance acts as a back-up for initiatives driven by the French State and the Regions to tackle 3 goals:
- Contributing to SME’s growth
- Preparing tomorrow’s competitiveness
- Contributing to the development of a positive entrepreneur ecosystem.
With Bpifrance, businesses benefit from a powerful, efficient and close representative, to answer all their needs in terms of financing, innovation and investment.
More info: www.bpifrance.fr – Follow us: @bpifrance
About Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners
Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners is a leader in investment in privately owned companies. Its strategies benefit the companies in which it invests, the investors whose confidence it enjoys, and its employees, who share its values of commitment and respect.
Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners manages over 1.7 billion euros in the life sciences (BioDiscovery), private equity and buyout capital (Winch for mid caps and Cabestan for small caps) and mezzanine financing (ActoMezz). Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners will continue to raise funds in its current segments over the coming months with BioDiscovery 5 and ActoMezz 3, bringing its assets under management to over 2 billion euros.
Based in Paris, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners has 56 employees of which 40 are investment professionals. It is 51% owned by the Edmond de Rothschild Group and 49% owned by the management company's partners and employees. For more information: www.edrip.fr
PRESS RELEASE | APRIL 26TH 2017 / | 3